Embodiments of the invention relate generally to a vehicle control system and a method, and more particularly to a fault tolerant system and method for a vehicle to provide a redundant signal.
Reliability and safety is critical for vehicles, not only in the component manufacturing process but also during the overall drive train integration period. Vehicles conventionally include a vehicle control unit configured to control subsystems of the vehicle, such as a motor drive system and an energy storage system. The vehicle control unit receives signals from the subsystems, provides control signals to the subsystems to operate the subsystems, and monitors health statuses of the subsystems. Currently, the vehicle may not work as expected when the vehicle control unit or connections between the vehicle control unit and one or more subsystems are malfunctioning, reducing reliability of the vehicle.
It is desirable to provide a system and a method to address at least one of the above-mentioned problems.